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Air Chief Marshal Sir Guy Garrod, G.B.E., K.C.B., M.C., D.F.C., LL.D., F.R.Ae.S., has been elected Chairman of the Air League of the British Empire in succession to Major R. H. Mayo, O.B.E., A.M.Inst.C.E., F.R.Ae.S., who has held office during the past three years.

IN setting out to study the exhibits at a great international exhibition such as that recently held at Olympia, one is naturally inclined in the first place to walk round the exhibition as a whole, so as to form some general impressions before examining the individual stands in detail. In the same way it is proposed in this article to make a general review of the exhibition as a whole before embarking on detailed comments on particular items of interest which were to be found at the various stands. It is by no means an easy matter to analyse the general tendencies of design as demonstrated at the Exhibition for the principal reason that there is so little to go upon in the way of existing standards. No less than nine years have passed since the previous International Aero Exhibition at Olympia, and during that long period there has been no general exposition of British aircraft design. It is true that there has been a succession of International Aero Exhibitions in Paris and that last year, for the first time since the war, there was an International Aero Exhibition at Berlin, but British design has been very poorly represented at any of these or the several other exhibitions held on the Continent.

THE following list of contracts placed by the Air Ministry during March is extracted from the April issue of The Ministry of Labour Gazette:—

THERE are many aeronautical engineers whose specialised knowledge does not include that of airscrews, and who nevertheless have occasion to make preliminary estimates in which some understanding of the properties of an airscrew is desirable. To these the most important quantities are frequently the diameter and efficiency appropriate to a given set of working conditions, and the static thrust.

THE British Committee was formed in June, 1929, in compliance with the recommendations of the International Commission on Illumination when at Saranac, New York, U.S.A., in September, 1928. This Committee was representative of all the interests connected with civil aviation, including the Air Ministry, the operating companies and the manufacturers of aviation equipment. In view of the novelty of the subject, it was felt that a paper collecting the data which had been discussed by the Committee during its numerous meetings, and also discussing the fundamental considerations which have to be borne in mind in designing equipment, would not be without value.

WE must apologise for the delayed appearance of the article on the Paris Aero Exhibition by M. de Marolles. The show opened so late in November that only by exact adherence to a schedule which we had prearranged was it, we hoped, possible for it to appear, in synchrony with the closing of the exhibition, in our issue published on December G. Unfortunately, through the vagaries of the French or British Post Office—or both—in spite of the author's posting his manuscript strictly to time, it did not arrive until just too late.

IT rather looks as if the aeroplane was on the point of becoming interesting again. This perhaps appears a somewhat startling statement, and it may be controvertible from two aspects. In the first place, the real enthusiast will no doubt say that the aeroplane is always interesting; whereas others will sec no reason why we should suddenly visualise advances.

WE cannot help envying those who have achieved fixed and definite views on the question of education and training. There is no subject on which opinions differ more widely. It is as many sided as a dice—and there are moments of pessimism when we feel that the results depend almost equally on chance. The real truth is, we suppose, that mental outlooks and temperaments differ to such an extent that what is the perfect curriculum for one student is totally unsuitable for another. In a perfect World, where time and expense were limitless, each candidate would follow his own course with tutors specially selected to care for his own particular needs. But unfortunately this is not possible and it is necessary for each student to be treated as one of a mass and pressed into the chosen mould. If he is so unfortunate as to be incompressible into that particular shape, then so much the worse for him and he cannot avoid the fate of being thrown out as a reject.

THE general aspect of seaplanes covers a very wide field, including as it does single and twin float seaplanes and also flying boats of many different types, and with the increase of knowledge in the science of aeronautics the subject is becoming one of very great importance.

THROUGH the enterprise of our German correspondent and the courtesy of the author we publish this month a lengthy extract from a small book recently published in Germany by Herr Milch, Chairman of Deutsche Luft Hansa, on the experiences of his company in running commercial air transport services during the years 1926, 1927, 1928. With commendable, and unusual, candour there are embodied a series of statistical tables, some of which we reproduce, which give data of a far more complete nature than anything that a company engaged in similar operations in other parts of the world has ever seen fit to divulge. These enable an analysis to be made for the first time not only of the number of accidents and interrupted flights, but of their precise causes, effects—in the resulting damage to material—and of the types of aeroplane in which they were most prevalent. These statistics are of very general importance because they give a picture of the sort of regularity that is attainable by air transport at the present stage of development. It would, of course, be interesting to draw a comparison between the achievements of Luft Hansa and competitors such as Imperial Airways, Ltd. But, as Herr Milch truly says, this is not easy, as the bases on which figures arc prepared in different countries differ widely. We have consulted the table of efficiency obtained on European services by Imperial Airways, Ltd., published in the official “Report of the Progress of Civil Aviation, 1927,” and this appears to show for that year a slight superiority in favour of the British line—taking the “Percentage of Scheduled Flights completed with or without interruption” as comparable with Herr Milch's heading, “Trips completed on the same day so far as the scheduled destination.” But the difference docs not amount to much, and is less important than the more general question of what air transport is capable of achieving in competent hands in any country. There is a very striking difference, as might be expected, between the summer and winter performances; indeed, the disparity is so great that Herr Milch remarks, “There can be no question for the time being of any regularity during the winter.” This at first sight may seem a pessimistic statement, but it is, in fact, justifiable in view of the German figures, confirmed by the British statistics already referred to which show that during October to March only 71 per cent. of scheduled flights are carried through without interruption and not more than 83 per cent. are completed after interruption. There will be some who will disagree with Herr Milch's statement that “Many years' experience have now enabled us to find our way in a fog, but the problem of landing in fog is as yet unsolved.” There is still a widespread view that flying in fog and cloud is not practicable, though those most competent to judge have for some years claimed that with modern instruments there should be no insuperable difficulty. We are glad to see that a high official of Luft Hansa is satisfied that this is so. Since this opinion is confirmed by Mr. Rowe in his authoritative article published in this issue, we hope that the combined force of the two statements will satisfy doubters. At the same time, the optimistic view that the problem of landing in fog—a totally different question—is on the point of solution is not justified by the facts, as is cogently proved by Mr. Rowe. That the precise situation regarding the two problems should be cleared up in this way is of great importance, as it shows in which direction research must be directed before air transport can achieve the regularity during the winter months that is essential.